Former Benidorm actor Danny Walters joins the cast of EastEnders next week in the role of Keanu, part of the rowdy new Taylor clan who'll be shaking up life on Albert Square in the months ahead.

Keanu is the man of the house and the main provider for his family, as his feisty mum Karen doesn't have a job of her own.

Digital Spy and other media recently paid a visit to the EastEnders set for Danny's first interview since joining the show. Here's all the early gossip on his character...

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How did your role in EastEnders come about?

"We actually had a workshop originally. I'm not sure if they were toying with the idea of a new family or not, but they were workshopping a few characters. I met my new on-screen sister Clair [Norris, who plays Bernadette] in the workshop and met a few others and they just had an idea with what they wanted.

"I found out that day that they had cast me as Keanu, this new character, but I didn't know much else. Throughout the process, you get to meet the family and the other characters and that's when you get to know the colours of these other characters."

What can you tell us about the Taylor family's arrival?

"There's reggae music playing as they arrive in the van, and they definitely come in with a bang. They're the sort of neighbours you wouldn't want moving into your beautiful Square!"

Who are they going to clash with on the Square?

"Everyone, I think! I think they just hate backing down. They're very proud."

"Keanu is probably the man of the house, as there are no other father figures – it's just the kids and the mum. The kids have a lot of respect for their mum, but Keanu is the only one who brings in the money for the house.

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"He's very mature for his age. Because we've had no father figure, he's had to grow up quite quickly to fend for himself and his family. He's an apprentice car mechanic at a place called MKF Motors, so he's earning some money and he works so hard."

Is Keanu the only one in the family who has a job?

"Yeah, he's the only one who works in the family. He pays for everything and with his two younger brothers having learning difficulties, he's paying for certain things. It's hard for everyone in the family.

"Keanu is a good lad and he's got morals. Even though we're building this lower class, underclass type of family, when you start to dissect them they're an absolutely beautiful family."

Can you tell us a bit more about them?

"I think you realise with this family that we put on a front, but actually when you dissect us, we do have emotions. There's also a massive amount of love within our family. Keanu would do anything for his sister Bernadette. Keanu would do anything for his mum. Keanu's got morals and he's trying to change people's perceptions of his family, which is sometimes impossible to do.

"It's that thing where it's tough when you're lower class. It's hard and some people can't break out of that. It's watching us as a family struggle to try and better ourselves all the time. When we think something is going right, something will happen and it gets taken away from us. Which a lot of people can relate to. It's society, unfortunately."

"Well, Keanu would be furious if he ever found out that Bernadette was stealing. He'd be like: 'Come on, we have morals here. We might be able to afford that. If you go and steal that's bad, because we don't do that. We're not that family'. So it's nice to see those colours played out."

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What kind of reaction are you expecting from the viewers?

"People are gonna throw eggs at us (laughs) and then maybe after six months they'll maybe see that there is something there!"

How did it feel when your casting was announced?

"As soon as the BBC announced it, I could then announce it on Facebook. I didn't tell any of my friends or family, I just mic dropped it.

"I had really nice hair before this. You may not believe it, but I had really nice hair! When I went to any auditions that was my selling point: 'Just look at the hair.' (Laughs.) I'd spend half an hour doing it – and then they shaved me!

"So I laid it on Facebook and all my friends were like: 'What have you done to your hair?! What do you look like?' So once it was off my chest, it was lovely."

Did you have to hide beforehand, then?

"I was even trying to hide from my girlfriend, but it was impossible. I used to have a long ponytail and everything. They brought me into the chair before we started filming to do costume and do make-up. I thought it was just going to be general stuff, but Caroline – who's the head of make-up – sat me down.

"I was just expecting a trim but she said 'I've just received an email from Sean', who's our producer. I said: 'Okay, how is he? Send him my love!' (Laughs.) She said: 'Yeah, he's just put Number Two.' I asked what number two meant and then the penny dropped and I thought: 'Oh s**t'. It was literally clippers on and gone."

Is this different to playing Tiger in Benidorm, who was more of a player?

"Yeah, if I'm going to compare characters, you'd have put Keanu as being so much more mature. There's so much more colour to him. With Tiger, he was just on a holiday trying to get some senoritas. That was his character. So it's nice to play a more mature character and someone who is from a completely different class with completely different characteristics."

How has being in Benidorm helped you prepare for being in EastEnders?

"It has prepared me a lot. But I can sit here and say my respect for all soap actors has increased massively. It is a skill that you've never been taught in drama school. You never get told about this skill. It's such a hard way of working on soaps. The pace of it all is just incredibly fast. It's a skill that you have to learn while you're here.

"In Benidorm, we'd do three or four scenes a day. You'd have much more time to settle into the scene and to do different shots and close ups. We'd only use one or two cameras at a time. With EastEnders, it's multiple camera and you'll probably do three or four takes maximum.

"You feel like you're settling into a scene and then when you've settled in, boom, the scene is complete. I am still learning even now that your best take has got to be your first take."

Did you leave Benidorm specifically for this role, or had you left anyway?

"I left Benidorm for a career choice. It was a very hard decision, as it was a beautiful job with some brilliant people. I was sitting out in the sun for months drinking pina coladas getting fat, it was a great job to get!

"I stopped taking Benidorm, because I'd come home and people would tell me I was getting fat towards the end of the episodes! (Laughs.) I'd say: 'Yeah, that was because of the pina coladas and the fricking tapas!'

"So as a career choice I had to leave and move on and challenge myself and go onto meet other incredible people, so this happened in the space of six months from leaving Benidorm."

What can you tell us about the other sister Chantelle, who's an off-screen character?

"She's got a boyfriend, two kids and she has moved out. She probably doesn't have any time for us anymore. She's probably got her own life and that upsets us a little bit, because we are so close and a strong family. So if she has her own thing and doesn't have time for us, that probably is hard to come to terms with."

Is it nice to come in as part of a family rather than as a solo character?

"That has made it a lot easier. I suppose there is a lot more pressure to succeed as a singular character and they put you on a certain contract and stuff. But with us, we are a powerful family and I believe in the characters a lot as well. I think we all do. We're all passionate about the characters and the storylines that we're telling, so hopefully that will show."

"I'm 24 and I'm from Essex. I used to live in Harlow, but I got into too much trouble around Harlow, so I'm now Hertfordshire, darling! (Laughs.) It's Stansted, so I guess that is still Essex."

Who were you most looking forward to meeting?

"Dot Cotton! You know, I sat next to her in the make-up room and she was eating a cake, and just... all it was was her eating a cake and it was fascinating! Also, everyone's first questions on EastEnders is 'Have you met Danny Dyer yet?' Everyone is over the moon about that."

Have you got a mentor from the cast?

"Mine is Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale. He's been in it for 33 years so he's probably the best one to get, no offence!"

What did he say to you?

"He was quite busy, he just said 'take my number, any problems, give me a call'. I was like, I can't call him now and say 'Hello Ian', do you know what I mean? (Laughs.) It'd be like, 'I know you're with your family, I've just got a few questions'.

"But he's been really good, I've bumped into him a few times. All our mentors have been. Even with a mentor or not, everyone's been really accessible. If you have a problem, they sort it out within seconds."

How did you get into acting?

"I didn't actually want to be an actor originally. I wanted to be a footballer, but I was too fat to be a footballer! When I was younger, I weighed about 16 stone pretty much. That was about age 14 to 18, that was my dark days essentially."

Did you have trials or anything?

"No, my older brother was always the athletic one, the good-looking one, the one who got the girls. He played football, so I aspired to that and I took a lot of inspiration from my brother, really.

"So I wanted to play football, but I was the fat one. So my mum sat me down and said: 'Bless you darlin', you're a bit too fat'. (Laughs.) I love my mum, she's honest!

"I also had asthma attacks and stuff so she said: 'How about going to drama school?' I was like: 'Come on, really?' So she took me to my first class and I hated it, but she told me to go again. I went to my second class and then I met a friend, who's a long-time friend of mine now called James Hunter.

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"I met him on the second session and so I only went back to this drama school to please my mum and to be with my mate James, because I didn't care about the acting. But then we did a showcase and I played, quite ironically, Fat Sam in Bugsy Malone.

"When I heard the audience clap or laugh, that completely just changed it and that's it. Ever since then, I've just wanted to have that feeling again of having a reaction on someone, to tell a story essentially. Ever since then, I've just wanted to get into acting, it's just grown and grown."

"No, she's not. When she first met me, she was like 'What do you do?' At first, I was like 'I'm an actor' as in trying to woo her (laughs), but she was like 'Oh, okay' and it went really quiet after that. I thought 'She hates me being an actor!'

"But she's really good with it all. We've been through it a lot, and we've been through a lot, and she's really good at handling it. Because sometimes our industry can be difficult and we've got to do some really interesting stuff on camera, so she's really good and really supportive."

Like having sex with a granny in Benidorm?

"Like that! There's history to me, there is history! You can probably get that on ITV Player!"

EastEnders introduces the Taylors on Thursday, June 15 at 7.30pm on BBC One.